Birgitte Silverbow
| lastappeared= | living=amol }} Birgitte Silverbow is a legendary heroine and archer, and one of the Heroes of the Horn. Background Birgitte Silverbow is the heroine of many hundreds of gleeman's tales and legends. Like many of the great heroes of the Wheel of Time, she has been "spun out" into the Pattern many times, taking a different name but always following the same pattern: an archer, sometimes a soldier, who is linked to a lump-faced man who fights with two swords (most famously known as Gaidal Cain), whom she at first hates but eventually falls for. She is also one of the Heroes of the Horn of Valere, and, like Artur Hawkwing, Gaidal Cain and a hundred other heroes, can be summoned to fight for he who blows the Horn. Personality }} Birgitte can be be regarded as somewhat of a tomboy, but has no problem showing off her body as she takes to wearing usually very revealing clothes. She is extremely fond of drinking and frequently enjoys spending time in taverns and pubs with fellow soldiers, bearing humor and manners that are very similar to theirs. Birgitte is willing to openly admire men that she finds attractive in public, and she very seldom watches her language or her temper. These traits have made her one of Mat Cauthon's closest friends. Birgitte is a very adventurous woman, with most of her past lives involving battles and other such trials. In most of them, she and her lover, Gaidal Cain, die young. Surprisingly however, Birgitte prefers this outcome, as she's stated that the few lives when she was forced to grow old were the most boring she'd ever experienced. Appearance Birgitte's appearance is typically assumed to be constant over the span of most, if not all her lives. She's described as being fairly tall and slim, with a long, blond braid of hair down her back. She normally prefers to wear men's clothes or armor. Activities ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' When not being woven into the Pattern, or fighting in spectral form, she and all the other heroes of the Wheel reside in Tel'aran'rhiod. She is first glimpsed by Egwene al'Vere while she is hunting for the Black Ajah. Later Birgitte first makes her acquaintance with Perrin Aybara, Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara. The latter two were hunting Darkfriends in the World of Dreams, and despite ancient injunctions to the contrary, and the ridicule of Gaidal, she insisted on stepping in to help them. This led, eventually, to a confrontation with Moghedien in which Birgitte was ripped bodily from Tel'aran'rhiod and expelled directly into the waking world, instead of being reborn (re-incarnated) into it normally. When Nynaeve and Elayne found her, she was dying, a condition not even Nynaeve could Heal. With no other recourse, Elayne bonded Birgitte as her Warder, saving her life, and Birgitte has served in this capacity ever since. .]] Maerion It was necessary to conceal Birgitte's identity, as her presence in the world would raise too many questions about Elayne's and Nynaeve's activities prior to joining the Salidar Aes Sedai. Birgitte herself assumed the name Maerion, saying "I was called that once" - indicating this was the name of one of her prior incarnations. She then heads out with Elayne, Nynaeve and Mat to Ebou Dar to find the Bowl of the Winds. Deadly and of unmatched competence with a bow, she is also by far the most raucous of Elayne's entourage; she and Mat Cauthon share a fondness for drink, carousing and foul language, and their friendship is strengthened by Mat's past-life memories and the fact that he is the Hornsounder. After finding the Bowl of the Winds the group of Aes Sedai, Kin and Sea Folk manage to leave Ebou Dar just before the Seanchan appear. Elayne tries to unravel a gateway and Birgitte is forced to hold off invading Seanchan troops with her bow. She is injured with an arrow but still fights on. Her strong confidence in Elayne helps Elayne hold the weave long enough for Birgitte to get her and Aviendha, who was also present, to safety before the gateway explodes. Nynaeve arrives and Heals her. Lan Mandragoran is also present and mistakes her as being from Kandor, a country that would not have existed during any of her lives. Over the course of time of having been expelled from tel'aran'rhiod, Birgitte starts to lose her memory of her previous lifetimes. In her current incarnation, Birgitte is an oddity in several respects: *She is the world's only female Warder - Aes Sedai have never bonded a woman at any time in history. Both she and Elayne have discovered at first hand that the bond of their shared gender increases the empathic link of the Warder bond to sometimes unacceptable levels. For example, when Birgitte gets drunk, Elayne gets tipsy, and likewise when Elayne and Rand spend time alone, Birgitte shares a degree of Elayne's arousal. *She is the first Hero of the Horn to have been expelled from Tel'aran'rhiod: while initially retaining the memories of all her past lives they are starting to blur together and fade as time passes. What this means for Birgitte's future and status as a recurring Hero of the Horn is unclear. *She also does not let herself get bullied around by Elayne like other Warders and they share more of an older sister, younger sister relationship. Gaidal Cain Just before Moghedien expelled her from Tel'aran'rhiod, Birgitte indicated that Gaidal had not been seen in Tel'aran'rhiod for some time, and she speculated that he had left to be naturally reborn into the Pattern. Shortly after, one of Min Farshaw's viewings indicates that Birgitte is romantically linked to an ugly man who is simultaneously much older and much younger than Birgitte herself, whilst Birgitte claims Gaidal was always older than her; and besides, her viewings always depict the future. This is almost certainly Gaidal reincarnated, but who he has been reincarnated as is the much more pertinent question. Some fan theories about Gaidal Cain's whereabouts suggest that he may have been ripped from the Tel'aran'rhiod just as Birgitte was and that they continue to remain linked despite Birgitte's current state. Caemlyn After the group finally arrive in Caemlyn, Elayne promotes Birgitte, now called Birgitte Trahelion from Kandor, to Captain-General of the Queen's Guards. However she is very reluctant to take this position. She is now building and training an army for Elayne and even strolls through the Black Tower to make sure they are keeping Andoran law. Since Elayne became pregnant by Rand, Birgitte has become overly protective of her. She escorts Elayne to meet with the Borderland rulers in Braem Wood. right|thumb|200px|Birgitte, from a [[Wheel of Time translations|Japanese translation book cover]] Birgitte also goes with Elayne to the house on Full Moon Street, where Elayne is captured by Black Ajah Aes Sedai. Birgitte rides back to the royal palace to muster up a strike force to retrieve her. There she manages to convince Chanelle din Seran White Shark and the rest of the Sea Folk Windfinders that without Elayne there is no bargain. They Travel to the area where the Black Ajah are riding a wagon with Elayne inside. The strike force ride towards the wagon, but is decimated by Balefire from Asne Zeramene. Birgitte finally convinces the Windfinders to actively attack the Black Ajah sisters and manage to take them all prisoner and rescue Elayne in the process. She is with Elayne when the neutral High Seats arrive and pledge their support for Elayne, giving her the required amount of Houses for the Lion Throne. She discusses with Elayne what to do with the captured nobles when Elayne declares her intention to take the throne of Cairhien. Halwin Norry then arrives to inform them of a letter sent from Mat asking for a meeting with Elayne. Frustration at Elayne Birgitte continues to try and convince Elayne to be more careful as an assassination attempt could happen any time. Elayne disagrees she is invulnerable until her babies are born according to Min's vision. Birgitte stands guard when Elayne meets with Alise and Sumeko about new living arrangements for the Kin. She is again guarding Elayne when Mat arrives to meet with her about making and using the Dragons. Mat later then comes to visit her to ask on what she knows of the Tower of Ghenjei. She tells him to keep away and relates to him the story of when she was Jethari Moondancer and how she survived in there for two months before dying at the Finns hands. Their meeting is interrupted when she senses Elayne's pain and rushes to her help. She just misses the attack on Elayne from Eldrith Jhondar, Temaile Kinderode and Chesmal Emry as they try and escape from Caemlyn. All three sisters were killed but she learns that Meller was also involved but escaped with a copy of Mat's medallion. She lets Elayne feel the full force of her frustration at Elayne being so reckless and not trusting Birgitte to look after her properly. She then gives the news that Jaq Lounalt was found dead and that Meller, Mili Skane, Marillin Gemalphin and Falion Bhoda all managed to escape from their cells and have fled from the city. Reincarnations During the Age of Legends, she was called Teadra. She foiled a plan laid by Moghedien to trap Lews Therin Telamon. She died before Moghedien could get her revenge, though the Forsaken, who was somehow able to recognize Teadra as one of the incarnated heroes, vowed to repay her one day. In , under an unknown name, Birgitte and Gaidal Cain helped to found the White Tower. Birgitte was once known as Jethari. After what was called the battle of Lahpoint Hills, Gaidal was inflicted with a horrible head wound that affected his mind. Birgitte traveled into the Tower of Ghenjei in hopes that the Finn would heal him. Sadly, neither of them survived, the Finn killing them both. She was also called Maerion at some point. Other incarnations *'Teadra' *'Joana' *'Maerion' *'Jethari Moondancer' Category:Queen's Guards Category:Generals